The tiny garden gesture that could save local hedgehogs this season

A single, palm-sized gap at the foot of your garden fence can mean the difference between a hedgehog making it through the season — or not at all.

It shuffled out from behind a wheelie bin, nose twitching, and paused as if choosing a road only it could see. The streetlights hummed, a fox barked somewhere, and the garden gates stood like sealed doors.

I crouched and watched the animal hesitate at the end of a timber fence, pressing its snout to the boards. There was no way through. It turned back, reluctant, hungry. A meter away, a garden full of beetles, worms, water — all invisible behind a barrier barely two fingers thick.

One tiny gesture fixes that.

Why a small hole changes everything

Hedgehogs don’t live in one garden; they live in many stitched together. They need to roam a mile or so each night for food, mates, and safe nesting spots, weaving a soft map across lawns, borders and sheds. A fence without a gap is a slammed door in the middle of their nightly route.

Urban hedgehog numbers are holding in some places, and even rising where people connect gardens. Rural populations aren’t so lucky, with steep declines recorded since the millennium. That split tells a story: where we make space, hedgehogs cope. Where we shut them out, they vanish.

The fix is gloriously simple: create a hedgehog highway. Cut a 13cm x 13cm hole at the base of your fence or gate so hedgehogs can pass. That square is big enough for them, too small for most pets. It turns a patchwork of isolated plots into one living neighbourhood they can cross in minutes.

The gesture, step by step

Pick a quiet spot at the bottom of your fence, away from hinges and utilities. Mark a 13cm square — about the width of your hand — then use a handsaw, jigsaw or a multi-tool to cut it cleanly. Sand the edges smooth so no spines snag, and pop in a little U-shaped arch or an offcut as a tidy frame if you like.

That’s it. One hole. If your fence sits on a concrete gravel board, you can raise the board on small spacers or cut a notch, then edge the gap with a strip of timber. Ask your neighbour to mirror the hole so the route continues. Add a shallow water dish nearby for bonus points. Let’s be honest: nobody does that every day.

We’ve all had that moment when a shy creature trusted our garden for a heartbeat. Keep that in mind as you make space.

“We see more rescues from blocked-in gardens than you’d think,” says a volunteer carer with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. “A highway hole is tiny to us and gigantic to them.”

A few quick wins to pair with your new gap:

• Lift netting 30cm off the ground or swap for rigid mesh.
• Check long grass and leaves before strimming or lighting bonfires.
• Leave a corner untidy — leaves, twigs, a little wild patch.
• Put out fresh water, and if feeding, offer meaty cat biscuits at dusk.
• Skip blue slug pellets; use beer traps or wool pellets instead.

Little details that prevent big problems

Slug pellets and certain pesticides poison hedgehogs directly or by thinning their food supply. Try barriers, copper tape, beer traps, or wool pellets that deter slugs without soaking the soil in toxins. **Skip the slug pellets** and you keep the invertebrates hedgehogs need, while saving your seedlings.

Ponds are brilliant if they’re wildlife-safe. Add a ramp or a stack of stones so any hedgehog that tumbles in can climb out. Keep water dishes low and heavy so they don’t tip. If you must have netting, peg it taut and lift it off the ground. Loose loops are leg-traps in waiting.

Food is a bridge, not a crutch. Dusk-only, modest portions of meaty cat or dog food help in droughts or cold snaps, and then you let natural foraging do the rest. Never milk, which makes them ill. **Small hole, big impact** — yet paired with a bowl of water and a few quiet corners, it becomes a survival kit woven right into your week.

What a difference a season makes

The weeks around nesting, late summer litters, and the hibernation wind-up are when hedgehogs take the biggest risks. Roads, fences, dehydrated lawns — they all pile pressure on creatures already running a nightly marathon for calories. A single hole relieves the bottleneck.

If you’d like a visual, imagine your local area from a hedgehog’s eye level. A walk becomes a maze of dead ends until someone offers one gateway, then another. A connected chain of gardens cuts crossing time, shrinks road exposure, and opens more places to rest. **Hedgehog highway** sounds grand; in practice it’s a friendly hello through a fence.

*It’s astonishing what happens once a neighbourhood catches the idea.* One person cuts a square, texts a photo, and within a weekend three more fences open. In a month you’ll spot droppings by the water dish, paw-sized footprints in the mud, and the quiet feeling that your patch is part of something living.

How to keep the welcome going

Mark your hole discreetly so future home improvements don’t close it. A little “Hedgehog Highway” tag does the job and sparks conversations. If you care for a lawn, leave a border wild and snip later in the year, after nesting season. A messy strip is the five-star hedgehog hotel they keep coming back to.

Strimmers are a common injury source in summer. Walk the grass first, lift clumps with a stick, and pause if you see leaves piled oddly under a shrub. If you’ve stacked wood for a bonfire, rebuild it the day you light it, not a week before. That pile is a beacon for a drowsy hedgehog seeking shelter.

On hot spells, top up water at dusk and dawn, and shade the dish. In cold snaps, leave dry food only; wet feeds can freeze and make a mess of snouts. If a hedgehog is out in daylight and looks wobbly or tiny, call a wildlife rescue for advice before doing anything else. A shoe-box and a warm room can buy precious minutes.

https://youtu.be/kcAXsjRUg60

Tools, timing, neighbours: the practical bit

Tools you’ll actually use: pencil, tape, hand saw or jigsaw, sandpaper, a scrap of timber for tidying the edges if you fancy. Ten minutes on a Saturday morning. If your fence is shared, a quick text keeps goodwill high; most neighbours say yes when you show a photo of a hedgehog.

Best moments to cut? Any time the ground isn’t waterlogged, and the fence is dry enough to keep splinters down. If you rent, ask first and frame the hole neatly so it looks intentional. Your landlord will likely shrug once they see how discreet it is. And if they refuse, place a gap under the gate using a doormat spacer.

One last nudge: track the visitors. A dusting of flour near the gap will catch prints, or pop a wildlife camera on a brick to record the night shift. The footage turns a small DIY job into a family ritual you’ll actually repeat.

“The first time you watch a hedgehog trot through a hole you made, you’ll never look at your fence the same again,” says a Hedgehog Street volunteer in Kent.

Here’s a mini checklist for the fridge:

• Cut a 13cm x 13cm gap at fence base.
• Smooth the edges; add a simple frame if needed.
• Mirror the route with your neighbour.
• Water dish out nightly; food only as backup.
• Lift or replace low netting; check long grass.

A season shaped by kindness

This isn’t about turning your garden into a nature reserve. It’s about a gesture so small it almost feels silly, and yet it stitches a whole street together. You cut a square, someone else puts out water, an older couple up the road leaves their leaves in a quiet heap, and the night starts to breathe again.

Think of the routes that carried you through hard seasons — a neighbour with a spare key, a friend who texted when the lights felt too bright. Wildlife needs routes like that too. A pathway, a pause, a hand placed gently on the latch of a stuck door.

Make the hole. Tell one person. Share a photo. You’ll sleep a little easier, and you won’t be the only one.

FAQ :

• What size should the hole be?About 13cm by 13cm works well — big enough for hedgehogs, too tight for most pets.
• Will foxes or rats use the hole?They might pass regardless, but a small, low square mainly benefits hedgehogs and similar wildlife already visiting at night.
• Can I feed hedgehogs every night?Offer meaty cat or dog food at dusk in dry weather spells or cold snaps, and prioritise water. Nature should do the bulk of the feeding.
• Is it legal to cut the fence?If the fence is yours, you’re fine. For shared or rental fences, get permission and make the gap neat and discreet.
• How do I know if it’s working?Look for small dark droppings, tiny footprints in flour or mud, and night-time camera clips. Patience pays — activity often spikes within weeks.